Books of Maccabees

MACCABEES, BOOKS OF, the name given to several Apocryphal books of the Old Testament. The Vulgate contains two books of Maccabees which were declared canonical by the council of Trent (1546) and found a place among the Apocrypha of the English Bible. Three other books of this name are extant. Book iii. is included in the Septuagint but not in the Vulgate. Book iv. is embraced in the Alexandrian, Sinaitic and other mss. of the Septuagint, as well as in some mss. of Josephus. A "Fifth" book is contained in the Ambrosian Peshitta, but it seems to be merely a Syriac reproduction of the sixth book of Josephus's his tory of the Jewish War. None of the books of Maccabees are con tained in the Vatican (B); all of them are found in a Syriac recension.

I Maccabees was originally written in Hebrew, but is preserved only in a Greek translation. It probably dates from about the be ginning of the ist century B.C. As it supplies a detailed and ac curate record of the 4o years from the accession of Antiochus Epiphanes to the death of Simon (175-135 B.c.), without doubt the most stirring chapter in Jewish history, the book is one of the most precious historical sources we possess. In its careful chron ology, based upon the Seleucid era, in the minuteness of its geo graphical knowledge, in the frankness with which it records defeat as well as victory, in the restraint with which it speaks of the ene mies of the Jews, in its command of details, it bears on its face the stamp of genuineness. Although written in the style of the histori cal books of the Old Testament the work is characterized by a re ligious reticence which avoids even the use of the divine name, and by the virtual absence of the Messianic hope. The observance of the law is strongly urged, and the cessation of prophecy deplored (iv. 46; xiv. 41). There is no allusion either to the immortality of the soul or to the resurrection of the dead. Many scholars are of opinion that the unknown author was a Sadducee, but all that can be said with certainty is that he was a Palestinian Jew devotedly attached to the national cause.

2

Maccabees, the epitome of a larger work in five books by one Jason of Cyrene, deals with the same history as its predecessor, except that it begins at a point one year earlier (176 B.c.), and stops short at the death of Nicanor (161 B.c.), thus covering a period of only 15 years. Originally written in excellent Greek, from a pronouncedly Pharisaic standpoint, it was possibly directed against the Hasmonaean dynasty. It shows no sympathy with the priestly class. Both in trustworthiness and in style it is inferior to I Maccabees. In spite of its obvious defects, however, it forms a useful supplement to the first book. The writer's interests are re ligious rather than historical. The eschatology of 2 Maccabees is singularly advanced, for it combines the doctrine of a resurrection with that of immortality. It is worthy of note that the Roman Church finds support in this book for its teaching with reference to prayers for the dead and purgatory (xii. 43 seq.). An allusion

to Jeremiah as "he who prayeth much for the people and the holy city" (xv. 14) it likewise appeals to as favouring its views respect ing the intercession of the saints. Neither of Jason's work nor of the epitomizer's can the precise date be determined. The changed relations with Rome (viii. Io, 36) prove, however, that the latter was written later than 1 Maccabees; and it is equally clear that it was composed before the destruction of Jerusalem A.D. 70.

3 Maccabees, although purporting to be an historical narrative, is really an animated, if somewhat vapid, piece of fiction written in Greek somewhere between loo B.C. and A.D. 7o, and apparently preserved only in part. It has no connection with the Has monaeans, but is a story of the deliverance experienced by the Egyptian Jews from impending martyrdom at the hands of Ptolemy IV. Philopator, who reigned in the century previous to the Maccabaean rising (222-205 B.c.). The title is of later origin and rendered possible only by the generalization of the name Mac cabees so as to embrace all who suffered for the ancestral faith. The purpose of the writer was evidently to cheer his Egyptian brethren during some persecution at Alexandria. Although the book was favourably regarded in the Syrian it was apparently un known to the Latin Church. Among the Jews it was virtually ignored.

4 Maccabees differs essentially from the other books of this name. While it does not itself aim at being a history, it makes striking use of Jewish history for purposes of edification. It bears, moreover, a distinctly philosophical character, and takes the form of a "tractate" or discourse, addressed to Jews only, upon "the supremacy of pious reason over the passions." The material is well arranged and systematically handled.

The book is written in a cultured, if somewhat rhetorical, Greek style, and unmistakably coloured by the Stoic philosophy. The four cardinal virtues are represented as forms of wisdom, which again is inseparable from the Mosaic law. That the writer owes no slavish adherence to any philosophical system is plain from his in dependent treatment of the affections. Although influenced by Hellenism, he is a loyal Jew, earnestly desirous that all who profess the same faith should adhere to it in spite of either Greek allure ments or barbaric persecution. It is not to reason as such, but only to pious reason (i.e., to reason enlightened and controlled by the divine law), that he attributes lordship over the passions. While in his zeal for legalism he virtually adopts the standpoint of Phari saism, he is at one with Jewish Hellenism in substituting belief in the soul's immortality for the doctrine of a bodily resurrection. The name of the author is unknown. He was, however, clearly a Hellenistic Jew, probably resident in Alexandria or Asia Minor. The date of composition cannot be definitely fixed. Most likely it is a product of the Herodian period.

5 Maccabees. On this see above.